Exactly one hour after the intercom had chimed into life, the ward C patients who were to transfer to the new facility were lead out to their waiting bus by a pair of Saint Christina's security, a few other guards and staff mingling with the group en route. The leading guards took up positions either side of the coach doors, and the students were herded inside, followed by a number of the staff who were also transferring to the new facility. Once they were all more or less settled down, the engine coughed into life, and coach C was off, beginning it's long journey back to Louisiana, and another new facility.

Here they were again, filing into buses and preparing for another long journey. This certainly wouldn't be the first for Genie, but she was hoping it would be her last. She'd be 18 soon enough, and free from the constant bouncing around the country. At least she hoped that would be the case.

In reality, Genie had no idea what was going to happen to her after she turned 18. Things had changed so much in her life in the past few years, and now she didn't know anything for sure anymore. Not that she ever really did, but still, it seemed like everything was hazier now than it had ever been before.

Boarding the bus, she noticed it was still relatively empty. Making her way to a window seat in the back, she sat down and stared out as the staff members and other students began filling up the remaining seats.

They were dividing them up by wards. Talon choked back the urge to argue, to kick up a fuss, or even to calmly and rationally request that he be permitted to travel on Bus A instead of Bus C. He did, however, manage to persuade one of the staff members to agree to deliver a note to Michael, promising that everything would be okay and that he would see him at all the rest stops. As he climbed onto the bus, he was preoccupied with worries about his little brother.

He headed for a seat towards the back of the bus, selected a window seat, and gave a brief nod of greeting to the red-haired girl sitting across from him before refocusing his attention to the window. He couldn't tell which bus was Bus A and which one was Bus B, but nonetheless as the buses pulled away, he pressed himself anxiously against the window. In one hand he held the orange duct-tape octopus Michael had given him, and he held it up to the window as well, hoping to reassure his little brother, even if he couldn't see him clearly.

They were off, again. And there was no way of knowing what lay at the other end of the road. All Talon hoped was that they wouldn't still be divided into wards, and that perhaps he and Michael would be allowed to room together.

She absolutely, completely couldn't believe her luck. Bus C, Ward C, seriously? Ordinarily the easy assignment would have been a bit troubling to Tracy. She was a member of the A-team security-wise as they liked to joke. So an assignment to the easiest ward's bus was a flicker of doubt. Maybe they thought she was slipping...

But today she was grateful, honestly she needed the space, if only for a moment. The peace and quiet ward C kids might afford her. She'd finally got something of a promotion by being made Head of Facility Security. It was something to be proud of. But now, transferring to the new facility there would be only one Head of Security. You didn't need to be a genius to know that job was being handed straight to Alex Lance, and Tracy couldn't blame them, or him. Still, as nice as it would be to work with Alex and Quinn again, she had been excited to really sink her teeth in and run her own show. Now that ambition had to be placed back on the shelf to gather dust.

Tracy had quickly volunteered to take on clipboard duty. Ticking off each student as they boarded, looking around for those still missing from the list. There wasn't a face or file she didn't know these days. Once every last kid who was supposed to board had boarded, Tracy climbed on herself and gave the driver a nod. They were off. The guard gave a little smile and slipped down into the open seat right up front next to her seatmate.

With considerably more enthusiasm than she had shown mere months before in boarding the plane that had brought them to Green Ridge, Mariah bounded up the steps of the bus and beamed her sunniest smile at the bus driver before taking a seat right at the front. Of course, Celeste was planted firmly on her lap. Even though she wasn't nervous about this move--bus rides were no problem--she wasn't letting the elephant out of her sight. It was a comfort thing more than anything. She hadn't seen Dr. Wynn since coming to the island, even though he was her therapist--she'd been so excited when she got the note--but of course it had only been a couple of months. And Nell had "aged out" and moved into the adult facility--maybe to get released. Mariah didn't know, but she planned to write a letter to Nell on the trip.

As the bus began to pull away, she felt the seat bounce slightly as someone sat down next to her, then make a comment about crossing her fingers. Mariah turned from the window with a sunny smile to find one of the security guards with pretty red hair. This one had been part of the facility since their days in Louisiana, and Mariah remembered her name--Tracy Ames. She responded enthusiastically.

"I don't think we'll need to keep our fingers crossed. I bet it's going to be fun! I know Louisiana can be scary--remember that awful hurricane, right before we had to leave for New York?" Mariah's face briefly crinkled into a worried moue as she remembered the awful storm. Rallying herself, she continued, speaking as much to cheer herself up as anything. "But after all, it's just a lot of wind and rain. And we'll be safe as long as we're all together. Right, Officer Ames?" She grinned, displaying small, even teeth.

They were moving....again. Chance couldn’t say that he was all too surprised when he’d heard the announcement. He was used to moving around. The Las Vegas native had learned early on in life not to get too used to any one place. Stability was not guaranteed. Thankfully, it didn’t take him too long to get packed. He didn’t have much to pack when they first shipped out from New York, so this time was no different. Some clothes, books, and his work-in-progress comic book. Don’t forget my handy-dandy index cards. He preferred to travel light. It was a habit that he picked up after being shuffled around from place to place. Foster home to street to foster home to where ever. It was just easier to have less stuff. Easier to pick and run...or move, in this case. There was no running. Not anymore...not yet. Not with this place and these people. While it was one of the many piss-poor coping mechanisms that he was good at, Chance knew that there was no way in hell of ever running away from these people. There was no point in fighting it.

With his usual easy smile on his face, the curly haired boy boarded the bus. Brown eyes bounced from face to face, taking note of the ones that he was familiar with and cataloging the ones that he wasn’t. Hopefully this bus ride wouldn’t be too boring. He hated being bored. Of course it was during his bouts with boredom did he come up with some of his more...entertaining ideas. A guy has to entertain himself. Or else he’ll go craz---too late...damn. Wait...no. I’m not crazy...I just live with crazy people. I wonder if all this talking to myself counts as crazy...? After a few seconds of wondering if he was making strange faces during his internal debate, Chance took a seat.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a deck of cards. He was determined to not be bored on this bus trip.Louisiana was a long ways away from Green Ridge. He’d never been there. He’d heard stories. Horrible stories of the heat and the humidity. He wasn’t bothered though. It was one step closer to getting back to Vegas. And that was something to be excited about. It was the boredom that he was worried about. There was nothing worse than being bored. Boredom was the thing that made the mind wander. And wandering minds were never a good thing.

Tracy grinned easily. Something she found she was slowly getting used to again. It was funny the stiffness that could grow in one's cheeks when you abused the frown function. Between the sheer stress of the drama of this island: what with panicking 'the shy is falling/the island is sinking' psycho students and even crazier newly hired security staff going on shooting rampages. But now that they were off under Dr. Bjorgen's more discerning eye. She was sure that this meant things would be better now. That man ran a tight ship and without people he had to answer to Tracy was sure he'd only steer more surely.

Mariah Rose was one of the blessings of the group as far as Tracy was concerned. As sweet as her story was tragic really. The girl was rarely mentioned in conversation without being followed by a resounding 'awww'. Not a trouble maker, not a rebel rouser. Just a nice kid who was messed up and getting better. Hopefully healing from the damage done by ill intentioned adults. Tracy could sympathize more than the little brunette could even imagine...

Tracy nodded, she remembered the hurricane vividly. The howling winds, shattering glass and the image of the good doctor trudging through the winds and wildness to the theatre to watch over his flock. A large part of her respect for the man was born that day. He stopped at nothing to look after his responsibilities. Not even natural disasters.

"Of course, Mariah. You can call me Tracy if you'd like... And remember we all know what to expect this time round. Most of the staff had never seen a hurricane before, I think that was part of the problem. Now we're all better prepared for the worst, weather-wise. And as much as I liked being back in New York–that's where I'm from– I think it will be nice to be back to all that warm weather, don't you think?"

Whatever Mariah had been through--and she was slowly coming to realize just how much she actually had been through--it hadn't diminished her trust in people, especially adults. And Officer Ames' friendly manner had more of an effect on the petite brunette than a gallon of soda. Her smile grew brighter, if that were possible, at the security guard's reassuring words.

"I hadn't thought about it like that," she admitted. "I guess I thought adults knew everything about everything. But I'd only been at Hadley for a little while then. I'm glad we're all prepared now."

"And as much as I liked being back in New York–that's where I'm from– I think it will be nice to be back to all that warm weather, don't you think?"

"Well...I don't know," Mariah said slowly. "I did like it being warm--sometimes--but I like the snow, too. I'm from Montana, so I'm not used to it being warm all the time." She looked up at Officer Ames--Tracy. "Does it ever get cold in Louisiana? I mean, do they have snow in the winter--sometimes, at least?"